Tabulating and margin setting mechanism



June24,-1941. DEM EL 2,247,014

TABULATINGAND MARGIN SETTING MECHANISM Filed April 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 24, 1941 AJBE MMEL 2,247,014

TABULATING AND MARGIN SETTING MECHANISM Filed April 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Figf Patented June 24, 194.1

TABULATING AND MARGIN SETTING MECHANISM Anton Demmel, Dresden, Germany, assignor to Olympia Buromaschinenwerke A. G., Dresden, Germany, a corporation of Germany Application April 2, 1933, Serial No. 199,706 In Germany April z, 1937 4 Claims.

This invention relates to tabulating and margin setting mechanism for business machines such as typewriters and the like.

Many typewriters and similar machines employing a reciprocating carriage are provided with adjustable tabulating mechanisms and in addition with separately adjustable margin adjusting devices which limit the movement of the carriage in each direction.

It has also been proposed to provide tabulating mechanism in which the stops may be adjusted to one position for use in writing tables, etc. and to another efiective position to act as margin stops. In known devices of this character a lever has been provided that must be adjusted according to graduations and. by means outside the key field of the machine, or several key levers have been employed, one for adjusting the stop dogs for tabulating purposes and the other for setting the stop dogs to act as margin limiting stops.

The object of this invention is to provide a combined tabulating and margin adjusting mechanism operated by a single key and lever mechanism, with the key located within the key fleld of the machine and requiring aminimum amount of space.

Another object is to provide a tabulating and margin adjusting mechanism employing stops which are adjustable to diflferent efiective positions to act as tabulating or margin stops by means of a single key lever embodying selective means for varying the stroke of the key lever to effect the desired setting of the stops.

Another object is to provide a key lever for tabulating mechanisms having means for adjusting the stroke of the key lever, said means being controlled by a part of the key itself.

Another object is to provide a key lever for tabulating mechanisms carrying a rotatable key head, the shaft or stem of the key having graduated abutments engaging a stop on the machine selectively to limit the stroke of the key lever.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein Fig. 1 is a semi-diagrammatic lateral sectional view through a typewriter embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear elevation,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary lateral sectional view through the rear wall,

Figs. 4 and 5 are side elevations, partly in section, showing different positions of the key of the tabulator setting lever,

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the forward end of the tabulator setting lever, and

Fig. '1 is a plan view of the key head.

In the drawings only so much of the typewriter and tabulating mechanism as are deemed necessary to an understanding of the invention have been illustrated.

The tabulating mechanism is applied to a typewriter or other similar ofilce machine ll having a frame il supported on rubber feet I 2. The machine is provided with the usual reciprocating paper carriage I3 upon which is mounted a stop carrying bar l4 formed with a plurality of channels or slots I5 in each of which a shiftable stop dog I6 is slidably mounted. In this type of tabulating mechanism there is usually provided one stop dog for each space shift of the carriage.

The stop dogs iii are generally Tshaped each havinga shank I! which has a sliding fit in the vertical channels of the stop bar It and a head l8 which projects above the upper surface of the stop bar.

The shank I1 is long enough so that it projects below the stop bar when depressed. The forward edge of the shank ll of the stop dogs is provided with several vertically spaced notches i9, 20 and 2i and the stop bar carries a spring dog or detent 22 which engages in one or the other of these notches to hold the stops yieldably in one of three positions of adjustment.

The three positions of adjustment of the stops will be apparent from an inspection of Figs. 1, 2 and 3. When the stops are in their uppermost position with the detent 22 engaging the lower notch i9 and with the end of the shank substantially flush with the lower surface of the stop bar I4, they are in neutral or inefiective position. when the stops are partially projected as indicated at lGa in Fig. 2, the detent 22 engages the intermediate notch 20 and they act as tabulating stops, as used in making columns of figures. etc. When the stops are fully projected as indicated at ifib in Fig. 2, the detent engages the upper notch 2i and they act as margin stops.

The adjustment or shifting of the stop dogs from neutral into one of the effective positions just described is accomplished by a vertically reciprocating presser foot 23 carried at the upper end of a vertically reciprocable rod 24 slidably mounted on a stationary part 25 of the machine ill by a screw 26 which passes through a slot 21 in the rod 24 and engages the part 25. The rod 24 and presser foot carried thereby are raised to elevated position out of engagement with the stop dogs l6 by a spring 28 connected between the rod and the part 25 to allow free movement of the carriage.

The lower end of. the rod 24 is pivotally connected at 29 to the end of one arm of a bell crank lever 30 which is'fulcrumed at 3| on the'machine frame. The other end of the bell crank lever 30 is connected by a link 32 to one arm of a two armed lever 33 which is mounted on a fixed pivot shaft or shank 31 which is journalledln an eye a 33 formed at the forward end of the arm 35.

As shown in detail in Fig. 6, the eye-forming end of the arm 35 need not be integral with the remainder of the lever but may be in the form of a separate piece 35a riveted on the end of the arm 35. The key shaft 31 is flattened on both sides and the side of the eye 33 is cut away at 33 to accomodate a flat leaf spring 40 carried by the key lever so that the spring engages the flattened sides of the shank to hold the key frictlonally against accidental rotation.

The lower end of the key shaft is cut away to provide stepped eccentric shoulders 4| and 42 which selectively engage an abutment or stop 43 carried by the frame of the machine. The stop 43 is formed with an upstanding rim for engagement by the shoulders and has a cut-out portion 44 to accommodate the end 4| of the key shaft when the key is turned to engage the upper shoulder 42 with the rim.

The face 35a of the key 36 is provided with indicia 45 and 46 reversed with respect to each other so that only one is in position to be read upright at a time. These indicia, which may be Margin and Tab respectively, are disposed so as to indicate the position of the shoulders 4| and 42. The outer edge of the key head is milled to provide a better grip when turning the same to bring the desired shoulder into operative position.

In the operation of the tabulator setting mechanism, when it is desired to set one or more of the stop dogs for tabulating purposes, the key 36 is turned until the index 46 Tab is upright to the operator. This will dispose the shoulder 4| in position to engage the abutment 43 as shown in Fig. 4 when the key lever is depressed, thus limiting the stroke of the key lever and the presser foot 23 so that the stop dog is shifted to the intermediate position Ilia with the spring detent engaging the notch in the shank I! to lock the same in the tabulating position. When setting the stops to act as margin stops, the key 36 is turned to bring the index 45 reading Margin" into upright position and the corresponding shoulder 42 into position to engage the abutment 43. This shifts the shoulder 4| into inoperative position, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, and when the key lever is depressed, the longer stroke permitted before the shoulder 42 engages the abutment 43 results in shifting the selected stop dog to position |6b with the spring detent 22 engaging the notch 2| in the shank IT.

The mechanism for tabulating the paper carriage to the positions selected by the setting of the stop dogs as described above, comprises a key mechanism and lever system similar in general arrangement to that described above for the tab stop setting mechanism. This mechanism includes a key lever like the two-armed key lever 33 except that it carries a simple key head. The inner arm of this two-armed lever is connected by means of a link 32a to one arm of a bell crank 30a which is similar to but reversed with respect to the bell crank 30. The other arm of the bell crank 30a is connected to a sliding abutment member 47 which is projected through a slot in the part 25 into the path of the projecting ends of the preset stop dogs 3 as shown in Fig. 1 when the tabulating key is depressed. Upon release of the tabulating key, the abutment 41 is shifted to retracted position out of the path of the stop dogs by a spring 48. It will be understood that a carriage release of conventional construction will be connected with the tabulating key.

A margin stop or abutment member in the form of a lever 49, having an end portion normally positioned to engage the stop dogs when set in the margin adjusting position I6b, is fixedly mounted on a pivot shaft 50 whereby it can be thrown to margin releasing position if desired. The usual margin signal bell Si is also provided and has a. tripping arm 52 positioned for engagement by the margin set stop dog in advance of the margin stop 49.

Return of the stop dogs to inoperative or neutral position, when it is desired to cancel a particular margin or tab setting, is effected by providing a camming surface which may be projected into the path of the stop dogs at will. This means may take the form of a member which is shifted over the tabulating abutment 41 when the latter is in retracted position so that it will form an inclined camming surface when the tabulating key is depressed to project the abutment 41 to operative position. As the carriage shifts, the lower end of the shanks ll of the set stop dogs will engage the inclined surface thus provided and will be shifted back into inoperative position.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in connection with tabulating mechanism for typewriters and similar oiiice machines, it will be understood that the invention may also find application to other uses wherein a single key lever is employed for eifecting various ad- Justments. It will also be understood that various modifications in the details of construction and operation of the illustrated device may be resorted to without departing from the spirit-of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the type described, combined tabulating and margin adjusting means comprising a plurality of stop dogs shiftable from a neutral position to one of two projected positions to act as tabulating or margin stops, means including a key lever for shifting said stops to said projected positions, an abutment carried by said machine, and a key mounted for rotation about a vertical axis in the end of said key lever and having depending stepped portions selectively positioned by rotation of the key about its axis to engage said abutment to limit the stroke of said key lever to different stop setting positions.

2. In a machine of the character described having a normal key field, a combined tabulating and margin limiting device comprising a plurality of stop dogs shiftable from neutral position to partially projected position to act as tabulating stops and to fully projected position to act as margin stops, means including a key lever for selectively shifting said stops to said projected positions, said key lever having an end portion terminating in the normal key field oi the machine, an axially rotatable key member journalled on the end of said key lever and having portions selectively positioned by rotation of said key member to limit the stroke of said key lever to a position corresponding to the preselected position of said stop dogs.

3. In a machine of the character described having a normal key field, a combined tabulating and margin limiting device comprising a plurality of stop dogs shiftable from neutral position to partially projected position to act as tabulating stops and to fully projected position to act as margin stops, a shifting member engageable with said stop dogs, a key lever having a depressible end portion terminating in the normal key field of the machine, connections between said key lever and said stop shifting member for shifting said stop dogs to partiallyprojected position when the key lever is partially depressed and for shifting said stop dogs to fully projected position when the key lever is further depressed, an abutment carried by said machine, a single key member mounted for rotation about its own vertical axis on the end I of said key lever and having portions selectively positioned by rotation of said key member about its axis to engage said abutment upon depression of said key lever to stop-setting positions corresponding to preselected projected positions of said stop dogs.

4. In a key operated machine of the character described having a key field, tabulating and margin adjusting means for said machine comprising a plurality of stop dogs shiftable from neutral to different effective positions, means including a key lever having a depressible end portion disposed in the normal key field of the machine for shifting said.stop dogs to a selected one of said efiective positions dependent upon the depth of stroke of said key lever, an abutment carried by the frame of said machine, a key member including a vertically disposed axially rotatable shank carried by the end of said key lever and a key head rigidly mounted on the upper end or said shank coaxial therewith, said shank having a cut-away depending portion providing stepped shoulders selectively positioned by rotation of said key head and shank for engagement with said abutment to difierently limit the depth of stroke of said key lever.

ANTONDEMMEL.

CERTiFIQATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,2LL7,o1li. June 21;, 191 1.

ANTON DEMMEL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3, first column, line 10, claim 2, before the word "position" insert --proJectedand that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 29th day of July, A. D. 191a.

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

